Portable voting machine



Feb. 22, 1966 R. F. sHoUP PORTABLE VOTING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 17, 1965 Feb. 22, 1966 R. F. sHouP 3,236,445

PORTABLE VOTING MACHINE Filed May 17, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 RANSO E SHOUP j?? v M A TTO/Q/VE Y.

Feb. 22,v 1966 R. F. sHouP 3,235,445

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United States Patent O M 3,236,445 PORTABLE VOTING MACHINE Ransom F. Shoup, Bryn Mawr, Pa., assigner to Shoop Voting Machine Corp., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 17, 1965, Ser. No. 456,278 Claims. (Cl. 23S-50) This invention relates to a voting machine of the type used for electing officials and for voting for, or against, various questions.

In a conventional voting machine, votes arel cast by turning keys, or handles, which are attached to spindles which are engageable with, and turn, the wheels of vote counters which record the vote. Such a machine also includes means for bringing the counter wheels into and out of engagement with the spindles, and -interlocks to limit the votes cast for any one oicer or category. The machine further includes elaborate safeguards to prevent tampering with the voting process. While machines of this type have been used successfully by the thousands and f-or many years, they are big, heavy and costly and take time to reset from one election to another.

It is therefore one object of this invention to produce a relatively small, light land inexpensive voting machine and one which can be prepared for an election by merely printing the ballot and the punch cards t-o be used in connection therewith.

In a conventional voting machine, the votes shown by the various counters must be taken off, classified, and totalled, and each individual -counter must `be re-set to zero. This takes time and leaves room for mistakes and, once the counters have been re-set, there is no record which can be referred to, should a dispute arise.

It is therefore a further object of the invention to produce a voting machine which utilizes a punch card system whereby the votes cast can be classified and ytotalled quickly and accurately by running the cards through any one of a number of presently available data processing machines and whereby such cards can be punched in duplicate so that tw-o permanent records are preserved in the possession of two different election ofcers belonging to two different political parties, until all disputes have been settled or until the time for raising a contest has passed.

The front, or operating, face of a conventional machine has about ten columns, each of which has about forty closely spaced voting keys, and this tends to confuse a voter trying to make a selection of one candidate -out of two or more, or trying to select more than one candidate from three or more, running for the same otiice.

It is therefore a still further object of the invention to produce an improved voting machine wherein the number of voting, or card-punching elements, provided is limited to the number of candidates to be selected. For example, .if the vote is for Mayor, only one movable votecasting, or card-punching, element is provided so that the voter need only move the one voting element into registration with the name of the candidate `he favors. In other words, the voter does not have to select the one of the many closely packed voting keys which happens to register with the name of his candidate and therefore, the voter can not be confused.

The full nature of the invention will be understood from the following specication and the accompanying drawings in which:

FlG. l is a front elevational view of a voting machine embodying the invention, the same being shown set up and ready for use by a voter.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevational view looking in the direction of line 2-2 on FIG. 1.

3,236,445 Patented Feb. 22, 1966 ICC FIG. 3 is a reduced front elevational view showing the machine after it has been used by one voter but before it has been made available to another.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view looking in the direction of line 4 4- of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view looking in the direction of line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a similar section but showing the first step in using the voting machine in completed voting position.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged side elevational view similar to FIG. 2, certain parts being broken away to show details of construction.

FIG. 8 is an elevation of a double punch card before it is punched.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing how the two parts of the double punch card are separated -to provide two separate records.

FIG. 10 is a horizontal sectional view similar to FIG. 4 but showing a slightly modified form -of the invention.

The voting machine of this invention comprises a board or base member 10 which is adapted removably to mount a ballot 11 bearing the titles of the offices to be filled and the names of the candidates for each oiiice, and/or a designation of the measures to be voted upon and so forth. A typical ballot is shown in FIG. 1.

Baseboard 1@ carries voting, or selector members 12, which are movable by the voter int-o registra-tion with the name of the candidate to be voted for. This means that the number of selector members used for each otiice is the same as the number of persons to vbe elected to that ofce, not the number of candidates running for that office. For example, if two out of ten candidates for Council are to be elected, there will be only two selector members 12 for that oice. Locking pins 13, FIGS. l and 4, limit the movement of the selector member -or members to be used for each office, to the area of the ballot on which the name of the otice and the names of the candidates for that office appear. For example, a pin 13 in registration with line L in FIG. l prevents the selector above the line from being moved down and used for voting for a candidate for the Senate, 'and so on. In other words, the selector assigned for electing a President can not be used for voting for a Sentator, and so on.

Board 10 is provided with a slot 14 for removably receiving a punch card 15, which serves as the vote counter of the voting of this invention. The card 15 is located directly in back of ballot and the two rows of selector members 12, as will be apparent from FIGS. l and 4. It will be noted that, when the card is inserted into slot 14, the area thereof which is intended to record the presidential vote will register with the portion of the ballot which bears the names of the candidates for President so that if a vote selector is moved into registration with Repf the card Will be punched, in the manner hereinafter set forth to show a vote for the Republican candidate, and so on.

Selectors 12 are mounted for movement in slots 12A formed in guide members 16, FIG. 4, and each selector carries a punch 18 which has limited movement in bore B. Each punch 18 is biased outwardly, or away from punch card 15, by a compression spring 19, the rear end of which biases a detent 21 rearwardly against the rear wall 16A of a guide 16 to align the punch with a hole 22 in said rear wall.

A guard plate 23 is positioned in a slot formed between the rear Walls 16A of the guides 16 and the punch card 15. Guard plate 23 is provided with spaced holes 24 which, in one position of the plate are out of registration with holes 22 and prevent punches 18 fromfreaching the punch card, and which in a second position of the plate, register with holes 22 to permit punches 18 to reach and punch card 15. Guard plate 23 is moved to either of its positions by means of a link 31, FIG. 7, one end of which is connected to the guard plate as at 31A and the other end of which is secured, at 32, to the cover member 25 of baseboard 10 which is hereinafter referred to.

To actuate the punches 18 to punch holes in card 15 after the selector members 12 have been positioned in accordance with the choice of the voter, I provide a cover member 25 which is pivoted, at one end thereof, to the board for rotation about axis 26. While the voter is positioning the selector members 12, cover 25 will be disposed as shown in FIGS. 2 and 7. To punch holes in the card, the cover member 25 is swung about axis 26 to the position shown in FIGS. 3 and 6 in which it overlies and conceals vote selectors 12. The cover member 25 has spaced pins 27 which are disposed in alignment with holes 22 and with bores B of punches 18. Pins 27 are removably attached to the cover 25 so as to permit resetting the machine according to the requirements of different elections. Each pin 27 is long enough to reach and push the aligned punches 18 through the holes 22 and 24 and through the card 15 to punch a hole in the card in the position identifying the candidate chosen by the voter.

Cover member 25 is also provided with lingers 28 which are tapered and serve to insure that the selector members 12 are accurately aligned with the names of the candidates and with holes 22 and 24.

Since pins 27 move in an arcuate path about axis 26, the outer ends of the openings in selector bodies 17 are made arcuate or are given sufficient clearance to permit free movement of pins 27. The same is true of the contacting surfaces of the ngers 2S and the selector bodies 17.

The punch cards used in the voting machine `of FIGS. 1 to 7 are prescored so that they may be punched with minimum force.

The punch card used in this voting machine is preferably `a composite card comprising, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, two ballots, card 33 and 34, which are duplicates of each other. The two cards are attached to each other along their edges by an adhesive material of a type that permits ready separation. The cards are of the same configuration except that the one corner of one of them, such as ballot Card 33 is cut off to facilitate grasping of the ballots, and separation. When separated, one ballot is dropped into one box and the other ballot into another box. The cards may have the same identifying numbers printed on their contiguous faces to permit rechecking should `a dispute arise. The ballots contained in one of the boxes may be processed at the close of the election while ballots contained in the second box remain sealed and so as to be available for later checking in the event that a re-count is ordered.

Limiting pins 13 are removably mounted in prearranged holes so that they may be removed and re-arranged for different elections. For example, if only two candidates are running for President, the pin registering with line L-1 in FIG. 1 will be moved up one hole as viewed in FIG. 1 and vice versa.

Operation In the standby, or rest, position of the voting machine, the cover member 25 is in the position shown in FIGS. 2 yand 7. Also, in this position, selector members 12 are haphazardly disposed. To cast a vote, the voter must move the desired selector member 12 to a position indicating the candidate, or the proposal to be voted for. Having moved the selectors into registration with the names of the candidates, the voter moves the cover 25 to the position shown in FIG. 6. As the cover approaches the baseboard, the pins 27 carried by the cover enter bores B in the selector bodies 17 and, move the punches 1S through the openings 22 and 24 and through the punch card to punch holes in the card at the positions representing candidate or issue, selected by the voter. If the voter does not wish to vote for any candidate for a given ofce, the voter can move the selector into registration with the title of the oce so that the hole punched in the card will not count.

Return bars 30 are provided with detents which are engageable with the selectors 12 and may be actuated by any suitable one-way drive cam which is rotatable about axis 26 concurrently with the movement of -cover 25 away from the ballot but not vice versa.

FIG. l0 shows a modification of the voting machine adapted for use with Unscored cards. It incorporates punches 41 having sharp edges 42 for cutting holes through the card. A lever 43, fulcrumed at 44 to a bracket 45, `on a board 10, provides a mechanical advantage to achieve a greater force to drive the punch through the card. The punch 41 is pivoted to the lever 43 at 46 to provide a short lever arm acting 0n the punch. The selector member 12 has a stern 47, which is similar to the punch 18 of the rst embodiment but which in this case is adapted to abut against the end of the lever 43 remo-te from the fulcrum, acting on a longer lever arm to provide the mechanical advantage. The lever 43 is biased in the opposite direction to retract the punch 41 by a compression spring 49 having one end seated in an opening in the board 40 and its other end bearing against a spring abutment 50 pivoted to the lever 43.

In this embodiment, a guard plate 48, having holes 24 and actuated to align the holes 24 with the stems in the voting position, is disposed within the slot in the guide 16.

In both embodiments, a stripper is provided to prevent the fragment punched, or cut out of the card, from being retracted with the punches following, and clogging the machine. This stripper takes the form of a resilient bushing through which the punch passes after passing through the card. Beyond the rear end of the bushing is a space in which the severed card fragments can drop. When a punch is driven through the bushing, it expands or spreads it.

What I claim is:

1. A voting machine comprising a base having means for removably supporting a punch card, and a ballot superimposed on said card and displaying the names of candidates or questions to be voted on,

at least one selector member mounted on said base for movement selectively into registration with a name, or a question,

said selector member including a body portion having a passage therethrough leading to said card,

a punch in said passage adapted to be moved through said opening to punch a hole in said card,

means for actuating said punch inclu-ding:

a support, a pin carried by said support,

said support being movable to a first position of disengagement from said base and into a secondi position in which said support overlies said base and said pin enters said passage to push said punch through said card.

2. The voting machine defined in claim 1 and means hinging said support to said base.

3. The voting machine defined in claim 2 and a guard plate disposed in the path of movement of said punch toward said card,

said plate having a hole therein and being mounted for movement, concomitantly, with the movement of said support, to a first position which corresponds to the lirst position of said support and in which the hole in said guard plate is out of registration with said punch and prevents the punch from reaching the card, and to a second` position which corresponds to the second position of said support and in which said hole is in registration with, and affords said punch access to said card.

4. A portable voting machine including:

a base having a slot for removably mounting a punch card in a predetermined position,

said base having predeterminedly arranged passages therein, registering with selected portions of said card,

a ballot removably carried by said base and bearing the names, or questions, to be voted on, the positions of said names or questions, registering with sai-d selected portions of the card and with said passages,

candidate, lor question selectors, mounted for movement relative to said ballot whereby said selecto-rs can be moved into registration with selected names or questions, and

punches carried by said selectors and adapted, when said selectors are correctly positioned, to register with said passages and with said selected portions f the card, so that, when moved, said punches will punch out said selected portions of the card.

5. The voting machine defined in claim 4 and a support movable relative to said base, and pins carried by said support in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the passages in said base, whereby,

when said support is correctly placed over said base, said pins will push the corresponding punches through said card.

6. The voting machine dened in claim 5 and means hingedly securing said support to said base, and

a guard plate operatively connected to said support and having holes therein which, when said support is placed over said base, register with said passages to permit the punches to reach and punch out selected portions of said card and which, when said support is out of engagement with said base, are out of registration with said passages and prevent the punches from reaching the card.

7. A voting device comprising:

a base having means for removably retaining a punch card,

a selector mounted on said base for sliding manual movement to any one of a plurality of selected positions,

a punch carried by said selector and slidably mounted therein for movement transversely of said card,

a cover member hinged to said board,

a fixed pin carried by said cover member and adapted to align with said punch and to actuate the same to punch a hole in said -card upon movement of the 6 cover member to a position parallel with and close to the face of said base.

8. A voting machine as set forth in claim 7 and xed guide spaced fingers carried by said cover member and engageable with said selector to insure exact alignment of said selector with the intended portion of the punch card.

9. A voting machine as set forth in claim 7 and further comprising a guard plate movably mounted on said board between said card and said selector and having holes at said selective positions to permit, or to prevent, movement ofthe punch through said card, and

means actuated by movement of the cover member to said position to move said guard plate to align one of the holes therein with said punch.

l0. A voting machine comprising:

a base having means for removably supporting a punch card thereon and indicia identifying different choices to be voted,

a selector member mounted on said base for movement to diierent positions indicated by said indicia,

said selector member comprising a body member having a passage therein, a punch located in, and movable longitudinally of, said passage through said punch card to punch a hole therein, and

a cover member mounted on said base for movement against the front face thereof,

said cover member having pins attached thereto on the rear face thereof in positions in alignment with said punch in the dierent voting positions of said selector member, each pin being adapted to ente'r the front end in the body of said selector member when the same is aligned therewith and move the punch to punch a hole in said punch card.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,744 8/ 1893 McTammany 23S-50 674,388 5/1901 SWaren 23S-51 1,947,157 2/1934 Harris 23S-50 2,364,098 12/ 1944 Rathbun 23S-50 3,104,805 9/1963 Holicky 235-50 3,170,622 2/ 1965 Lord 23S-50 FOREIGN PATENTS 959,365 6/ 1964 Great Britain.

LEO SMILOW, Primary Examiner. C G. COVELL, Assistant Examiner, 

7. A VOTING DEVICE COMPRISING: A BASE HAVING MEANS FOR REMOVABLY RETAINING A PUNCH CARD, A SELECTOR MOUNTED ON SAID BASE FOR SLIDING MANUAL MOVEMENT TO ANY ONE OF A PLURALITY OF SELECTED POSITIONS, A PUNCH CARRIED BY SAID SELECTOR AND SLIDABLY MOUNTED THEREIN FOR MOVEMENT TRANSVERSELY OF SAID CARD, A COVER MEMBER HINGED TO SAID BOARD, A FIXED PIN CARRIED BY SAID COVER MEMBER AND ADAPTED 